Kick Back with Great Beach Reads for Civil Engineers

You take a promising paperback – perhaps the latest bestselling thriller – and post up under an umbrella for about eight hours. Catch some sun, enjoy the ocean breeze, and maybe even solve a mystery.

It’s not a bad life.

But for civil engineers, the definition of “beach read” is a little bit different. Civil engineers are, after all, lifelong learners.

Even when they’re on vacation.

Even when they’re at the beach.

So what’s a great beach read for civil engineers? We took the question to ASCE Collaborate to get some recs from ASCE members:

Robert Gibbs Lee, P.E., M.ASCE

I think that David McCullough’s The Great Bridge is a good read. The story talks about the civil engineers who designed suspension bridges as the astronauts of their day.

Michael Buechter P.E., D.WRE, M.ASCE

For my own “enjoyment,” I am into Volume 4 (The Hinge of Fate) of 6 of Winston Churchill’s The Second World War. I highly recommend it to all Churchill and WWII buffs. Note it is a challenge.

Raymond Hill P.E., M.ASCE

I am planning to read To Engineer is Human: The Role of Failure in Successful Design by Henry Petroski.

Heather Riebeling P.E., M.ASCE

I recommend Boots on the Ground, Flats in the Boardroom! Light enough for beach reading, inspiring for transportation professionals at any career stage. A great variety of career and life journeys documented in this book.

After reading, The Great Bridge, continue with McCollough; The Johnstown Flood, and, The Path Between the Seas, The Building of the Panama Canal. ASCE gave McCollough a high award many years ago for his work!